THE WORST ANIME SHOWS OF 2010, part 2

I just finished up tallying up my Top 20 Anime Shows of 2010, and now it’s time to take a look at the other end of the scale. Over the past several months, I have sampled EVERY SINGLE ANIME SHOW that was produced between December 22, 2009 and December 21, 2010, and was subtitled into English. I only excluded blatant pornography and hard-core yaoi shows; in total, it added up to over 150 television series, movies, specials, one-shots and OVAs. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll kiss your sanity goodbye!

What, you don’t think it could get worse? Well, think again, because the show has only just started!

#15 – Asobi ni Iku Yo

Asobi ni Iku Yo a.k.a. “Let’s Go Play!” a.k.a. “Bombshells from the Sky” was a twelve-part weekly television series aired during the summer of 2010, based on a light novel series by Okina Kamino. Kakazu is a hapless high school student living in Okinawa, and suddenly one day a girl with cat ears and huge knockers shows up and fawns all over him. Claiming she is an alien, she moves in with Kakazu, and before long everyone seems to be chasing after her, including Kakazu’s childhood friend who just happens to covertly work for the CIA.

*sigh* Yet another low-end masturbation fantasy, using the tired old trope of “mysterious girl gloms on to loser guy”, where of course the loser guy is a stand-in for the pimply-faced otaku viewer. Ah, but it’s not just one stupid cliche, they also had to make this a harem anime as well, with three or four girls inexplicably showing interest in this idiot. Oh yeah, don’t forget to exploit the whole catgirls in anime bit as well, but let’s just say she’s an alien, throw in some secret organizations and also some strange superpowers as well. With all that, well, there’s not enough room for a plot, is there? Not that it matters, since this show is all about the fanservice anyways.

#14 – Iron Man

Iron Man, Iron Man, does whatever an…iron…can. This is a twelve-part weekly television series that aired during the summer of 2010, based directly on the American comic series from Marvel, the first in their lineup of anime adaptations. World-class asshole and superpowered Donald Trump wannabe Tony Stark is tired of being Iron Man, and travel to Japan to set up his first Arc Reactor to solve the world’s energy problems. All set to retire and devote his life to philanthropy, he is suddenly attacked by a secret organization, forcing him back into action.

Hyped with much fanfare, this was the first in an expected series of collaborations between Marvel and Japan (next one up is Wolverine), produced by the prestigious MADHOUSE, with story supposedly penned by Warren Ellis. Alas, this only ends up tarnishing the images of both, with a clearly sub-par effort from Madhouse (stiff, ugly character designs and poorly animated) and a less-than-engaging plot. Of course, I could be influenced by the fact that I’ve never been a superhero fan in the slightest, but this was just a mess, and Tony Stark is an insufferable git. Then again, nearly all of my knowledge about Iron Man is not from the comics but from the blockbuster movies featuring Robert Downey, which I *did* find entertaining. If this is an example of what we can expect from future Marvel anime series, then might as well give up hope now.

#13 – Strike Witches 2

Strike Witches 2 is a twelve-part weekly television series that aired during the summer of 2010, a sequel to the 2008 series. The year is 1939, and Earth has been attacked by the enigmatic Neuroi! The only effective line of defense are ‘witches’, young girls with magical powers who have the ability to fight the aliens. When using their magic, they inexplicably grow ears and a tail, and are able to wear powered propeller units on their legs and fly through the air. At the beginning of the second series, it has been months since the last big attack by the Neuroi, and middle school student Yoshika is resting in Japan. But a greater menace has appeared, and she is called once again to fight.

If the first thing to cross your mind is “What the fuck?”, then you’re not alone. Oh sure, anime is known for some of the most outlandish plots and ideas, a fertile imaginary playground for concepts that you would never expect to see the light of day. But this just goes beyond the pale of whatthefuckedness. But it’s not like the plot really matters in the first place, there’s not a whole lot of deep thinking involved here. Nope, it’s really all about showing underage girls running around bare-bottomed, a chance to show lots and lots of panties and pedo-boobies combined with pseudo-military hardware. As for me, I think the very concept of moe-moe teenage girls flying around with cat-ears and tails and propellers for feet just broke my poor little brain.

#12 – Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor

Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor a.k.a. “Battle Vixens” is a twelve-part weekly television series that aired during the spring of 2010, the latest installment in the long-running Ikkitousen franchise. The wars between the academies is heating up! Based extremely loosely on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Chinese legend, young girls battle it out for supremacy, imbued with the essences of the great warriors of Chinese past.

They fight, and fight, and fight and fight and fight! And…that’s pretty much it. The show is nothing more than a chance for various well-endowed girlies to face off against each other in ever-escalating melees. I’m sure there’s some sort of story that explains it all, but that’s just gloss, a thin thread connecting the different fighting characters together, from one battle to the next. If you like to see curvy young women in tight, revealing outfits beating the snot out of each other (and frankly, there’s a disturbingly large number of such mouth-breathers out there), then this is right up your alley.

#11 – Super Street Fighter IV

Super Street Fighter IV is a one-shot original video animation to mark the release of the long-anticipated video game of the same name in April 2010. Juri is a supervillian with unbelievable fighting skills, easily knocking Chun-Li on her ass and putting her out of commission. Cammy and Guile are then sent after Juri and to figure out what’s going on with the secret organization behind her, and they are also completely destroyed by Juri’s over-the-top evilness, mwah-hah-hah! In the end, Juri gets away and the good guys are left bruised and battered vowing revenge…and so you have the set-up for a fighting video game.

Sure, Super Street Fighter may be incredibly popular, but I don’t care in the slightest. But for anyone who is a big fan, then this anime special can only be a terrible embarrassment. It is difficult to imagine *how* they could manage to make the character designs any less attractive (although Iron Man listed above gives them a run for their money in that category). The artwork is dark and sloppy and difficult to follow, the acting is so waaaaay over the top to be laughable. Look, if you are a fan of the video game, do yourself a favor and pass on this, because you’ll just be banging your head and cursing its awfulness the entire time.

Coming up next:More crapola around the corner with Part Three of the Worst Anime of 2010! DEEEEEEP HURTINGGGGGGG…..